


Well Begun is Half Done

by TB_Anon_meme



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Couch Sex, Established Relationship, Frotting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 11:25:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17938805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TB_Anon_meme/pseuds/TB_Anon_meme
Summary: prompt:Ego stroking, or more like partner love stroking.Barnaby/Kotetsu/Barnaby: sex; heavy petting more on the clothed side, while watching a collection of Tiger & Barnaby's greatest feats. For when you are great and your partner is greater and together you can save the world.All the bonus points for compliments when the other is being awesome on the screen.Author: Anon





	1. Chapter 1

Kotetsu collected Wild Tiger stuff. Not like merchandise, no, but magazines where he had interviews, his trading cards, HeroTV DVDs. Stuff to kind of chronicle his career as a Hero. Kotetsu already collected just about everything official that HeroTV put out, so specially separating his stuff (like he did for Legend's) was just the next logical step. And when Barnaby became his partner (and they both got over themselves), he started saving Barnaby's stuff, too. When Barnaby became his partner, Kotetsu drew little hearts all over the box.

But he really didn't expect to find out that Barnaby did the same. Not the hearts thing—Barnaby wouldn't go that far—but he had his own secret collection of Wild Tiger things, all in digital format on his computer. Kotetsu found it by accident one day when he was snooping through Barnaby's files, trying to get ideas for sex from the porn he watched, but of course, Barnaby didn't have any porn. He had every interview, video clip, trading card, and publicity shot Wild Tiger had ever appeared in, though, even ones from before he and Barnaby became partners. From before Kotetsu became a Hero, even. And actually? Finding this was better than learning Barnaby's kinks on the sly.

Barnaby walked in on him just as he was opening up a folder buried deeper within the collection.

"What are you doing?"

Kotetsu startled and his knee collided with the table, sending Barnaby's tiny remote clattering to the floor. The massive screen on the wall in front of him flickered on, and the computer threw up the contents of the folder onto it. Wild Tiger pin-up calendar pictures and other, more risque shots Kotetsu had forgotten he'd agreed to have taken. He must have needed the money.

"Um." It was too late to think up a lie, and he'd been caught in the act. "Invading your privacy?" Kotetsu turned and plastered on the cheesiest smile he could muster, hands still hovering uncertainly in the air above the keyboard.

Barnaby huffed. "Obviously."

Kotetsu's grin turned sheepish and he sank further into Barnaby's only chair, anticipating the worst. "Are you mad?"

Barnaby pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "No, not really. I suppose we're even."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw the box. The one with the hearts on it."

"Dah! That was my private collection!"

"It was right there in plain sight, under your coffee table. It was hardly secreted away."

"...Are you mad about the collection?"

"That would make me a hypocrite," Barnaby said, looking pointedly at the screen full of Kotetsu. Kotetsu turned to look, too, so he wouldn't have to look at Barnaby. Kotetsu could hear him approaching, and then he took a seat cautiously on the edge of the chair. "Actually, I guess you could say I was—" Barnaby paused, uncharacteristically searching for the right word. "—flattered?"

He seemed unsure of his word choice, but Kotetsu was relieved. He let his hands settle in his lap, and leaned back against the chair fully, craning his head to get a look at Barnaby's face.

His smile was crooked, but it was there. Kotetsu laughed and looped an arm around Barnaby's waist, tugging him closer.

"So which box should I put the Tiger & Barnaby Special Edition Golden Era Compilation DVD in?"

"Is that really what they're calling it?"

"Yep."

Barnaby rested his head on Kotetsu's shoulder. "Hmm," he said exaggeratedly in mock contemplation. "The correct answer is to buy two, and put one in each."

*

"Hey, Bunny, look what I got."

Barnaby found a blurry rectangle shoved into his field of view, blocking his computer screen, and much too close for him to actually see.

"That's nice," he said, sitting up straighter and peering around whatever it was so he could continue his important game of solitaire. I mean, finish his report. Barnaby didn't play games at work. Never.

"No fair, you didn't even look at it!"

As if I could, Barnaby didn't say. He sat back in his seat and let his eyes focus on the thing in Kotetsu's hand.

"I thought this wasn't being released for another month?"

"This is an advance copy, given to me for free so I could preview it. What do you say? Wanna watch it with me?"

"I see." Did he want to watch a three-hour documentary slash compilation of his and Kotetsu's greatest and not-so-great deeds? Of course, he'd been there for most of them, but he rarely watched HeroTV until recently, unless it had been a day he was absent from the show. Seeing what others saw of them on television, from an outside perspective could be enlightening. "Your place or mine?"

"That's a tough call. You have that huge screen, but I actually have places to sit."

"True on both counts. What's more important? The size of the screen or the seating?"

"Hmm," Kotetsu said, drawing the syllable out in a comically familiar way. "The correct answer is that we watch it twice: once at my house and once at yours."

The reference was not lost on Barnaby, who smiled in spite of himself. "So your place it is."

*

They had a date at nine at Kotetsu's apartment, where he was doing some last-minute cleaning before Barnaby got there. He wasn't as much of a total slob as he used to be, which was mostly Barnaby's influence, but the apartment could still use a good once-over.

Kotetsu was sure his partner would appreciate being able to put his beer down on a shiny, dusted table.

When Barnaby got there, he just let himself in, a habit he definitely picked up from Kotetsu, who was prone to barging in on Barnaby when he was walking around in his underwear. (Not that Kotetsu planned his visits around when Barnaby was getting out of the shower. He wasn't clairvoyant, just lucky.)

Barnaby had a small overnight bag in one hand, which most likely contained his hair care products and a toothbrush. Since the first night they drank until morning and Barnaby had to wear yesterday's clothes to work, he always kept a change of clothes at Kotetsu's place. So Kotetsu was sure the tall paper sack in the other hand was something else entirely.

"What's in the bag?" Kotetsu asked, stripping off his rubber gloves and placing them next to the sink. Yeah, he even did the dishes.

Barnaby put down his bag and drew a bottle out of the sack. "I thought I'd bring my favorite, since you only seem to keep Legend Beer and hard liquor, neither of which I particularly enjoy."

"You say that, but once you've got a few drinks in you, your fancy tastes go right out the window."

"I won't argue with you on that point, since it's true. That's why I only brought one bottle. And I plan to share."

Kotetsu got two wine glasses out of his cabinet and filled them both with Barnaby's rosé wine. He handed one to Barnaby and took the other for himself.

"A toast?" Kotetsu said, raising his glass.

Barnaby swirled his wine. "To what?"

"How about 'a toast to your eyes?'"

"Let's skip the toast and just watch the video," Barnaby said, "if that's what you choose to toast to."

"Haha, whatever you say, Bunny." Either Kotetsu was bad at giving compliments, or Barnaby was bad at taking them. Regardless, when Kotetsu left his kitchenette, he was just the slightest bit put out. He put the DVD in while Barnaby situated himself on the sectional. Kotetsu turned the television on and grabbed the remote off the coffee table, flopping down right in the middle where the two halves of the sofa met.

Barnaby was all the way at the other end, tucked against the armrest. He made no move to get closer to Kotetsu, and after a few minutes of unskippable previews, warnings, and ads—the entirety of which Kotetsu spent mashing buttons on the remote—his window of opportunity closed, and Kotetsu could no longer inch down the cushions to cuddle with Barnaby. Barnaby was too far away for Kotetsu to even pull the trick where he put his arm on the back of the couch and around his partner's shoulders while he pretended to stretch. The main menu loaded before Kotetsu could start scheming.

"What version do you want to watch?" Kotetsu said as he paged through sub-menus. The disc had a few different modes on it, which included all the clips from their partnership played back-to-back, a documentary-style film featuring a guest commentator, and director's commentary. All selections purported to contain "all-new" "never-before-seen" footage, as well.

"Who's the guest commentator?" Barnaby asked. The name was listed right on the box, but neither of them had any idea who they were.

"I don't know," Kotetsu said. "It's not Mario, that's for sure. Do you want to watch the documentary?" As far as Kotetsu knew, documentaries were all that Barnaby ever saw.

"Yes, that sounds good."

Kotetsu focused on the screen and put all his thoughts of how to get things moving between him and Barnaby organically to the back of his mind.

He pressed play.

"Hello, and welcome to the Tiger & Barnaby Golden Era documentary. Tonight I will be taking you on a journey through the adventures of the first and only Hero team, where you see their highs and their lows, as well as stunningly candid scenes of their off-duty Hero business. This documentary features limited narration and none of the original commentary, so you can fully experience Tiger & Barnaby's greatest and worst moments as they were meant to be experienced. So you can feel like you're right there with them. Please, get comfortable and enjoy the show."

Something wasn't right. "This, uh, doesn't seem like a documentary."

Barnaby sipped his wine. "You're right. I'm not sure what it's trying to be, but a documentary, it is not. And this man's voice is, well, you understand, right?"

Kotetsu took a drink himself. He understood damn well what Barnaby wasn't saying. The narrator sounded like a phone sex operator. A really good phone sex operator, at that. Kotetsu took another drink as the intro finished up and some clips started rolling.

Barnaby's first appearance. Maverick introducing him during the Hero awards. Kotetsu watched out of the corner of his eye as Barnaby tightened his grip on his glass.

"Uh, I could skip this part if you want."

"No, I want to see it."

The clips continued. Images of their constant bickering flickered across the screen, the two of them caught up in embarrassing blunders, stuck in humiliating positions. The narrator chimed in occasionally to further denigrate them, picking on their shoddy teamwork, and Kotetsu's clumsiness especially.

They never showed this crap on TV. Why would they put it on a DVD?

"Bunny—" Glancing down, Kotetsu noticed Barnaby's glass was nearly empty. It was an opportunity if he ever saw one, and one he took without a moment's hesitation. "—you look like you need a refill. Let me get you one, yeah?"

Barnaby nodded, eyes glued to the screen, jaw clenched. Kotetsu thought Barnaby must be hurting his teeth like that. He grabbed both of their wine glasses and escaped to the kitchenette to nurse his wounded pride. Kotetsu drank down the rest of the wine in both his and Barnaby's glasses, and refilled Barnaby's. He put his own glass in the sink and fetched a tumbler from his cabinet, filling it with ice and shōchū. Kotetsu was more than ready to move onto something stronger.

Sorry in advance for ruining this prompt with weird stuff. I don't know myself what happened or how I'll salvage it. To all those anons who commented previously to say how cute this story was...it's not anymore. Now it's just strange.

\----

Kotetsu took his good sweet time in the kitchen. He didn't want to go back out there just yet, so he washed his abandoned wine glass and put it away as slowly as he possibly could. He couldn't linger in the kitchen forever, though, and anyway, he could still hear the DVD behind him, so there wasn't much point in standing around in there, even with his back to the screen.

Kotetsu gathered up their glasses and returned to the living area, handing Barnaby his refilled wine glass and putting his glass on the table. He turned to leave again.

"Where are you going?" Barnaby asked, not looking away from the screen.

"Uh, I was just going to the bathroom. That okay?"

"Would you like me to pause this?"

"Nah, it's all right."

"If you say so."

Of course, he didn't really need to use the bathroom, but he used it anyway. He washed his hands for an extra long time, as well. When he ventured back out, Barnaby was sitting closer to middle of the sectional, and the wine bottle was on the coffee table.

"What did I miss?"

"A dramatic shift in tone. The narration has changed from constant derision to uncomfortably earnest praise. And it's just as well, because I was starting to get upset."

"Oh! Well that's...good, I guess? Anyway—" Kotetsu flopped down right next to Barnaby. "—I should actually watch this thing." He slipped an arm around Barnaby's shoulders, just as the screen filled with a close-up of Barnaby's undersuit-clad ass. "Er."

"It's been doing that for a while now. Every shot with a view of my backside zooms in."

"Don't you feel, uh, that thing where you're like, reduced to what you look like—"

"Objectified?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"Of course I do. I knew the minute I showed my face on television that I would be. It doesn't bother me much anymore."

"Huh."

They watched in silence for a few minutes. Wild Tiger rescued some citizens. Barnaby rescued Wild Tiger. And then some sexy jazz music came out of nowhere. Did my record player randomly turn on? Kotetsu thought, but no, it was coming from the television speakers. A montage started of Wild Tiger lifting and breaking things, of him getting sent flying, and all the helmet microphone recordings of his grunting played with it. Interspersed throughout were clips of Barnaby kicking and jumping, the majority of which were somehow upskirt shots, again with audio ripped from their helmets. It sounded like a porno was playing on his television.

Barnaby crossed his legs. Kotetsu felt like doing the same. Suddenly, the jazz music cut out and the screen went black. It stayed that way for several long moments wherein Kotetsu felt every hair on the back of his neck stand up. Frantically, he jabbed at the pause button and got up to take the DVD out of the player.

"Ah, that's it, I'm turning this thing off. It's got to be haunted or possessed or something."

Barnaby caught him by the hand and pulled him back down onto the sofa. "Don't. I want to finish watching it."

"But Bunny, it's creepy and weird."

"You seemed to be enjoying it just fine a few minutes ago."

Kotetsu sighed through his nose and settled in against Barnaby's side. "Fine, you win. But you have to take responsibility and comfort me when I get scared."

Barnaby's arm came up around Kotetsu's waist and held him close. "Of course I will."

Just kidding, Bunny, Kotetsu thought. I totally just won. He wasn't really scared, just somewhat disturbed. And definitely thirsty. He reached for his drink, and pressed "play" once again. 

The blackness on the screen resolved itself into a clear picture. A familiar stadium. Colorful bear dolls with dead, fish-like eyes and surgical sutures. Kriem spoke directly into the camera, but there was no sound. Jake Martinez entered the frame and the camera focused up close on his face. He was talking, and Kotetsu didn't need to hear it to remember what he was saying. Wild Tiger's card was drawn and Barnaby's card with it.

Kotetsu swallowed a mouthful of shōchū. Noticing the wineglass in Barnaby's left hand trembling, he hit the fast forward button. Barnaby let out a breath Kotetsu hadn't known he was holding. However, even sped up by a factor of sixteen, the cruelty that Jake inflicted on Wild Tiger could not be overlooked. The hand Barnaby had on Kotetsu's thigh tightened as the silent battle on the screen raged. Wild Tiger remained unmoving as Jake further brutalized him. Finally, Jake was done, and the ambulances arrived to carry Wild Tiger and the other Heroes away. Barnaby's turn was next.

"I never did see what he did to you," Barnaby said quietly. "I hadn't watched your match."

"Don't you dare tell me you're sorry. It's in the past now. I've put it behind me. And besides, you've more than made up for it."

"I wonder if I have," Barnaby said, staring forlornly into his drink, which was looking a little low.

Kotetsu reached to fill Barnaby's glass for him, but the bottle was empty. "You want something else to drink?" Kotetsu said.

"Water, please."

Kotetsu got up again, taking both of their glasses to the sink to dump their contents. He didn't even feel like drinking anymore, and whatever mood he'd had going with Barnaby had been effectively killed. It would take some effort to rebuild it.

"Aren't we fast-forwarding through this, too?" Kotetsu asked when he handed Barnaby a glass of water. Barnaby's battle with Jake played in real-time on the screen, silent and savage.

"I wanted to see if I was beaten as badly as I remember. And also, your entrance wouldn't be as dramatic if I skipped past the buildup." His speech hardly slurred at all.

"My entrance, huh? I thought they didn't record that."

"I'm hoping they did."

Kotetsu sat. He hadn't seen much of Barnaby's fight; he'd been too busy getting to the stadium, helping Barnaby win it. Barnaby had fared a little better than he had, reserving his power and dodging more than Kotetsu, but even he had been overpowered.

Kotetsu stretched his arm across the back of the sectional. "You did pretty good."

Barnaby inched closer to Kotetsu and rested the back of his head against Kotetsu's bicep. His alcoholic breath wafted over Kotetsu's face. "I would have lost without your help."

"I only helped. Taking down Jake was all you. You were incredible out there."

Barnaby hmm-ed, but said nothing, letting his head drop to Kotetsu's shoulder. The Barnaby on the screen disappeared, jumping away to the stadium's roof. The camera didn't follow. Jake was alone in the frame, aiming silent taunts at the camera.

"You're not there," Barnaby said flatly, hands tensing up on his glass.

"It's not important. You were the hero that day."

"We're a team. We were both the hero."

Barnaby made his comeback as Kotetsu's secret weapon did its job. Jake folded like a piece of paper. 

"I'm so proud of you, Bunny. You could have killed him, but you didn't."

"My parents wouldn't have wanted their only son to become a murderer. Moreover, you would have been disappointed in me."

"I wasn't aware that my approval was so important to you."

"It means a lot more to me than you would think."

"Bunny..."

Wild Tiger leaped into the frame as Jake attempted to escape. His attempts were futile and the getaway chopper spiraled into a fiery explosion.

Barnaby got up.

"Where are you going?" Kotetsu said, already reaching for him.

"Bathroom."

Kotetsu watched Barnaby walk away. He barely swayed at all, managing to walk in an almost perfect straight line. Kotetsu heard Barnaby turn the sink faucet on in the bathroom, probably self-conscious in the silence of Kotetsu's apartment. Kotetsu watched the aftermath of the battle by himself, sipping his ice water alone on the sofa.

The only noise in the apartment was the quiet activity of Barnaby in the bathroom, so when the sound on the video suddenly came back, it startled Kotetsu out of his reverie and nearly caused him to spill his drink.

"Bunny, the sound came back!" he said, mashing the pause button. The screen froze on an image of an empty street.

A flush. More running water. The sound of the bathroom door unlocking—how weird was it that Barnaby still locked the door—that he ever locked the door at Kotetsu's place when it was just the two of them? Anyway, Barnaby emerged, straightening the hem of his shirt. "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing yet, but the sound did come on."

"I'm not sure I should be happy about that."

"Neither am I."

Barnaby took a seat on Kotetsu's other side, near where the two sections joined. Barnaby's eyes widened in recognition of the scene. "I think I remember this. It's footage of the heist that we stopped right after you got out of the hospital."

"Is it?" Kotetsu had still been a little out of it, pumped full of pain medication and out in the action against doctor's orders, but he faked being cognizant beautifully. It wouldn't be too much of a surprise if indeed he had forgotten.

Sure enough, a freight truck rolled into the frame, Wild Tiger dangling from the back end of it, attached by his wire. Sensibly, he hadn't dug in his heels and ripped up the asphalt in an effort to stop the vehicle. Instead, he retracted the wire and flew to the back of it, clambering over the top of the truck and throwing the criminals out of the vehicle. He got in the driver's side and stopped it from moving.

"Never mind, I remember this," he said. Seriously, how could he forget? It was probably one of the weirdest crimes he'd ever stopped, the thieves making off with two tons of artisan cheeses and cured meat. He'd followed the smell. "What did those guys want with all that sausage, anyway?"

"I don't know, but you were in top form that day."

"Haha. I was feeling pretty good after that whole you calling me by my name thing."

"Mm, was that what it was, Kotetsu?"

In reality, it was probably all the pain meds, but Barnaby's new attitude toward him certainly hadn't hurt. "It feels good when you trust me."

"Oh believe me, I trust you."

Kotetsu reached up and loosened his tie. "What was that, Bunny? I'm getting hard of hearing in my old age, so you'll have to speak up."

Barnaby put his hand on Kotetsu's knee and turned to face him. "I trust you."

That went right to his ego, and Kotetsu suddenly felt like fanning himself in an exaggerated fashion. His shirt collar felt a little tight, so he popped open the first couple buttons. Barnaby's hand remained on his leg, thumb stroking the side of his knee.

"Did I ever thank you for helping me make it to the top? I could never have gotten so many points on my own."

"I'm pretty sure you did thank me, but you know how my memory is." 

"Should I thank you again?" Barnaby's eyes gleamed behind his glasses.

"I-if you want to. Your Sky High impression needs some work, though."

"I can't even think of how to show my gratitude," Barnaby said, turning his attention back to the screen, not amused by Kotetsu quip—as far as Kotetsu could tell, at any rate. The narrator remained suspiciously absent, and the audio track seemed like the proper one, now, though it occasionally included Tiger & Barnaby's crosstalk as they discussed strategies for taking down suspects and fought over the fastest routes to the crime scenes. Kotetsu couldn't help but smile at that. Years later, he and Barnaby still argued about the best way to get downtown.

"What's so funny?" Barnaby asked, fingertips tracing up the inseam on Kotetsu's pants.

That wiped the smirk off Kotetsu's face really quick. "Nothing," he said, spreading his legs almost imperceptibly.

Barnaby edged nearer, until his thigh was flush with Kotetsu's. "It didn't seem like nothing."

"I was just thinking about how things haven't changed that much."

Barnaby's hand stilled. "What do you mean?" The Barnaby on the screen made an arrest.

"I mean like that. You see how you just nabbed that guy like it was nothing? You still do that. You're amazing."

"If my skill has remained unchanged for all these years," Barnaby started, fingertips stroking the inside of Kotetsu's thigh, "then I've stagnated. You, however, have just gotten better." Barnaby's mouth was almost touching his ear.

Kotetsu swallowed. "If that's true, then why am I never the one to catch you when you fall?"

"You have caught me."

"Never on screen."

"No, not on screen, or even in actuality; I'm speaking metaphorically. You'll never know the full extent of what you've done for me—how many times you've saved me, or what you've saved me from."

Kotetsu thought back to that first meeting with Barnaby, and tried to envision what he would have become had they never met. "I could say the same thing about you." This was getting a little heavy for a romantic movie night. And maybe a little cheesy. Just how drunk was Barnaby that he was saying things like this? How lowered were his own inhibitions that he was answering Barnaby back with the same level of corny?

Barnaby settled his head heavily on Kotetsu's shoulder, just as the Barnaby onscreen caught a couple of carjackers single-handedly, hoisting them up by the collar, one hooked on the end of each arm. Kotetsu couldn't remember where he'd been at the time, but he did know that he was impressed. "Bunny, you're so good at what you do," he said, curling an arm around Barnaby's waist once again and placing his palm lightly on Barnaby's hip.

Barnaby hitched his leg up and slid it over Kotetsu's lap. "I consider myself mutitalented," he said, angling his head up to speak directly into Kotetsu's ear.

"D-do you, now?" It was...difficult to concentrate on Barnaby being awesome on television with Barnaby seducing him on the couch. Or maybe seeing two completely different sides of Barnaby at the same time was somehow increasing the speed at which he succumbed to Barnaby's advances. Kotetsu wondered at which point he should start reciprocating.

Barnaby cupped the front of Kotetsu's slacks. "I think I've figured out how I want to repay you," he said.

"Okay," Kotetsu said, slipping his hand down inside the back of Barnaby's jeans, "in that case, let me start paying off my interest."


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anon:   
> Don't read this, because you will hate me:
> 
> Okay, so, in the interest of full disclosure, here is the entire story of how this hiatus and this new part came to be:
> 
> When I started writing this, I'd also picked up a couple other prompts to fill. Like always, the first several hundred words came easy; I knew exactly how I wanted the beginnings to go. I warned people ahead of time that I might take a while, figuring I'd give myself a bit of breathing room so as to not get anyone's hopes up.
> 
> And then, like always, writing the middle bit seemed impossible. I struggled. I don't revise, I don't plot an outline, I never change the trajectory of a story once it's already set on its path. This is why I'm not a professional writer and also why my fills suck.
> 
> I started thinking about everything else I'd finished, and about how stupid all of my fills were. Why was I even writing if I could only produce stupid crap? Good w!anons see my fills and just shake their heads. And even while I'm thinking this, I also believe that I am seriously the best writer and that all those other, more popular fills just have so many readers not because of quality writing, but because the readers are dumb and can only read stuff that's written at their level. I am the worst person.
> 
> I got lazy. I goofed off. I would rather play video games and watch videos than write. I had podcasts to listen to, and I can't write and listen at the same time. Whenever I sat down to write, there was an emergency at work and I got called in. All of these are just excuses because the main reason for the break is that I just didn't want to write this fill anymore. I took up a few other fills and finished them in record (for me) time. I was feeling pretty good about that, even though none of them got much feedback.
> 
> I thought I was ready. I had a couple hundred words written for this part already, before I had taken my break. I had a short list of stuff I wanted to happen next, in roughly the order I wanted it to happen in. I thought it would be easy enough to get back into it. However, my notes were full of abbreviations that I no longer understood, and the order of events made no sense, not that it would have mattered, since my fills already don't make sense. I was determined, though. I was going to finish this thing. And then I wrote all of this.

The Barnaby in Kotetsu's hands was even hotter than the Barnaby on the screen, despite the fact that Barnaby's undersuit had the mysterious ability to make Barnaby's ass look more luscious and round than it really was. 

It felt firm and full enough to him, though, even if it did look kind of flat when he wore these pants. "Bunny, your ass is unbelievable," he said.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" asked Barnaby.

Kotetsu gave the cheek clasped in his hand an extra-hard squeeze. "Of course it was."

Barnaby's hands, which at that moment were tracing the outline of Kotetsu's cock through his pants, faltered. He had to reach down and adjust himself, not bothering with subtlety.

"Is this getting you hot?"

"What would 'this' be?" Barnaby asked. He didn't deny being aroused.

"Well, it could be any number of things. It could be seeing us being heroic, or it could be all the praise I'm giving you, or it could be the fact that I have my hand down your pants, for starters."

"What if I said it was a combination of all those things?"

"I would say that is such a cop-out answer," Kotetsu said.

Barnaby unzipped his pants in retaliation, drawing out Kotetsu's half-hard cock and gripping it firmly in his hand. His leg, still on Kotetsu's lap—the same leg that he was currently using to kick fugitives in the face on the television—shifted until Barnaby's groin pressed into the side of Kotetsu's thigh. There was no mistaking how hard he was—and Kotetsu was filled with smug satisfaction that it was mostly him who had made it that way.

"Your legs are so strong," Kotetsu said, moving his hand up the length of Barnaby's leg. The one down his pants slid down even further, until his fingertips met the top of Barnaby's thigh. "So muscular."

"You're muscular, too," Barnaby said. "For a man in his forties, your upper body strength is phenomenal. See? You just threw a man through a building and out the other side." Every few words were punctuated by Barnaby's unhurried hand stroking him. "You weren't even powered up."

Kotetsu shivered. "Yeah, could you imagine how much more expensive those fines would have been if I was?"

"You would have destroyed the entire building with your power on."

"Probably." Kotetsu's hands worked in tandem, one squeezing and kneading Barnaby's thigh, the other massaging his ass. He could tell he was doing something right, because Barnaby's erection pressed against his side insistently, and Barnaby was only a step removed from dry-humping him right there on the sectional. Not that he would have minded if Barnaby was reduced to that; the thought itself of Barnaby, whose celebrity persona always acted appropriately (even for trashy magazines that wanted details of his then-nonexistent sex life), dropping that prim and proper posturing to hump his leg like an animal was as good as sensory stimulation going by the effect it had on Kotetsu's arousal.

His cock twitched in Barnaby's hand, surprising a startled sound out of him. "I didn't know destruction was such a turn-on for you," he said, adjusting his grip and speeding up his movements.

"It isn't," Kotetsu stuttered out. "I like saving people, not destroying things. Sometimes things just get in the way of that."

"You're still very adept at both. You were so brave to run into that burning building, even if you did reduce it to rubble." 

"If you hadn't run in after me, we never could have saved the kid. You're the one who's brave. You knew it was coming down, but you still—ngh." Barnaby silenced him with a skillful twist of his wrist. The constant pressure of Barnaby's hard-on became maddening. Kotetsu pulled Barnaby fully onto his lap, fumbling his pants open and bringing their erections together.

"I can't see the screen," Barnaby panted, hips rolling forward, seemingly of their own accord.

Kotetsu wrapped one hand around the both of their arousals, the fingers of his other hand digging into Barnaby's ass cheek to keep him from toppling backwards. "We'll rewind it," he said, thrusting up into his own fist. Barnaby bounced in his lap until he found the right rhythm. When they were moving in sync, he bent down and kissed Kotetsu on the mouth.

For the first time that night, Kotetsu forgot all about the television.

Barnaby didn't mess around; he went right for all of Kotetsu's good spots—the roof of his mouth, the tip of his tongue—pulling back a fraction of an inch to just barely nip at Kotetsu's lower lip. Kotetsu wanted to say something nice about that, but his mouth was occupied, and he couldn't form the words. He showed his appreciation in another way, though, rubbing the underside of Barnaby's cock with his thumb, underneath the head, right where he liked it.

Barnaby's kiss turned desperate and sloppy, and he made little whimpery noises into Kotetsu's mouth. Or maybe Kotetsu was making those noises; it was hard to tell with how good he was feeling. They were both so close.

Barnaby broke away from his lips to bite down on Kotetsu's shoulder, muffling his cries in his shirt as he came. Kotetsu followed soon after; Barnaby, no longer distracted by his own need for release, expedited Kotetsu's orgasm, putting to use one of his many talents.

"You're really good with your hands, Bunny," Kotetsu managed, just before he climaxed.

They stayed like that for a little while, Barnaby in Kotetsu's lap, both of them uncomfortably sticky, and neither of them with a good view of the television.

It took a few minutes, but eventually, Barnaby peeled himself off and wiped up the worst of the mess with a tissue. Neither of them were clean, exactly—they could shower later, no big deal—but he tucked the both of them back into their respective pants, all the same. Kotetsu would have laughed at the face Barnaby made, but he didn't want to sleep on the couch that night, especially after having had hot monkey sex all over it. He refrained from doing so admirably.

When they were finally comfortable, Kotetsu searched for the remote to rewind the DVD, but it must have fallen in the cushions while they were busy. He didn't think they needed it, anyway.

"We didn't miss a whole lot. This is the 'date' we had at the Fortress Tower Building, isn't it?" Kotetsu laced his and Barnaby's fingers together so that they were holding hands.

"It looks like it. They aren't even trying to keep the scenes in chronological order anymore. "

"I know, what a bunch of chumps—hey!" Something unexpected happened on the screen: Barnaby, far from looking politely interested, was talking animatedly to Kotetsu—Kotetsu sans mask, in fact. Kotetsu glanced around and picked up a menu, positioning it such a way that he could steal a kiss secretly behind it. They made out like that until their red-headed waitress came over to take their order, at which point, they tried to pretend nothing happened.

"Kotetsu, this was recent," Barnaby said, furrowing his brow.

"I know. This was our real date. There wasn't supposed to be a film crew there."

"I don't think there was a film crew. This looks like it was secretly recorded. Without our permission."

Kotetsu fished the remote out of the cushions. "Okay, I can deal with this thing making fun of me and making me look bad, but violating my privacy is where I draw the line."

"I couldn't agree more," Barnaby said.

With that, Kotetsu ejected the DVD and popped it back into its case. "I'm going to talk to Agnes. She was in charge of this project, and there is absolutely no good reason for it to have turned out like this."

"Tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, tomorrow. I have better things to do tonight."

Like you.

*~*~*~*  
In the morning, Kotetsu summoned all the righteous indignation he could muster (which truthfully, wasn't much; getting laid usually mellowed him out) before poking his head into Agnes' office. Agnes waved him and Barnaby in.

"Hiya, Agnes," Kotetsu said, "I'm not sure what kind of prank you were trying to pull by having your intern give me that weird DVD, but it wasn't very funny."

Agnes looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "I don't have an intern, and the DVD I'm directing isn't going to be out for another month, if that's the one you're referring to. The demo won't be ready until a week before that. So I have no idea what you're talking about."

"This DVD! This one right here!" Kotetsu said, jabbing his index finger into the cover of the DVD clenching in his opposite hand. "Some guy gave it to me and said he was your intern and that you wanted me to preview this for you. Well, Barnaby and me previewed it, all right, and it was kind of terrible! Not to mention all the stuff you filmed for it without asking us."

"We agreed in our contracts that what we do in our private time is our business," said Barnaby. "If Kotetsu and I weren't such kind, agreeable people, then we would be suing Apollon for the violation."

"Mr. Kaburagi, I had no hand in making this. Frankly, I'm insulted that you think I'm capable of directing something you believe to be inferior. And Barnaby, though I care about ratings more than I care about your dignity, I wouldn't stoop that low."

"If you weren't the one who put this together, then who was?" Kotetsu asked.

"I'll open up an internal investigation," Agnes said, already flipping open her business mobile and dialing numbers. "This disc will become evidence. Unfortunately, this means that progress on the actual release will be postponed." She stuck the DVD in her laptop's disc drive. She didn't watch it start-to-finish, but she clicked around through the scenes. The more she saw, the further her frown lines deepened. "This is unacceptable."

"Whatever, I just want the guy responsible fired."

"Yes, I believe his termination would be adequate retribution."

"I fear he may have already been fired, and this is his retaliation," said Agnes. "We may need to get the police involved if this turns out to be a case of stalking and harassment."

The playback reached the point where the secretly-recorded footage was playing.

Barnaby reached out tapped the spacebar before the scene could finish. "I think it already is."

*

It was an open-and-shut investigation, spanning just two days, the majority of which were spent writing the incident up. Even though Kotetsu couldn't remember what the suspect looked like, and his statement had been completely unhelpful, the investigators had a solid lead: the idiot had used his own voice for the narration, and accredited it to his real name right on the box.

It was probably the quickest arrest on record. When all was said and done, and he'd had the book thrown at him, the fines he accrued for using Apollon Media's footage and equipment without permission completely outweighed the charges for stalking.

"This is the first time I've been in court as a plaintiff," Kotetsu said to Barnaby during the recess on first day of the trial.

"That isn't funny," Barnaby said back, raising his coffee cup to hide his smile.

A couple of nice, crisp restraining orders and an undisclosed amount of Stern dollars later, justice was delivered.

The entire legal process had taken just over a month, and had been an exhausting bureaucratic affair. Kotetsu vowed to never complain about the amount of paperwork he had to do ever again; the legal proceedings had been twice as tedious as writing a whole stack of reports, and he didn't have his sponsor doing all the hard parts for him.

The last thing on their minds was the status of Agnes' project, so when the DVD hit the shelves, they'd both been surprised.

"I didn't think this would be out so soon," Barnaby said, picking up a copy and turning it over to read the blurb on the back.

"I can't believe it didn't get a theatrical release. I now I would have watched it."

"It would make a good make-out movie. I know we're entitled to a free copy, whenever Agnes decides to send them, but I remember you saying that—"

"That I wanted two. And you're the one who said that. I thought I was the one with the bad memory."

Barnaby chuckled and took the DVD to the register. "My place?" he said after swiping his credit card.

Kotetsu didn't even need to answer him.

*

After the fiasco that was the last movie date night, they loaded the disc with some trepidation. Barnaby got comfortable on the chair, and Kotetsu got comfortable on Barnaby, seated between his legs with his head tucked up under his chin.

There was no contest. Agnes' release was infinitely better, and neither of them had so much as opened their mouths before they were taking off their pants.

They watched it to the end, through the credits, and when Kotetsu went home in the morning, he took everything out of the box containing his private Barnaby collection and put it in with his Wild Tiger stuff. The DVD found a new home in with all the official things chronicling his and Barnaby's greatness.

And then he drew little hearts all over the box.

*~*~*


End file.
